Check List 10(1): 18-27, doi: 10.15560/10.1.18
Herpetofauna of protected areas in the Caatinga II: Serra da Capivara National Park, Piauí, Brazil
expand article infoLucas Barbosa de Queiroga Cavalcanti, Taís Borges Costa, Guarino Rinaldi Colli§, Gabriel Corrêa Costa|, Frederico Gustavo Rodrigues França, Daniel Oliveira Mesquita, Cristiane Nikely Silva Palmeira, Nicolás Pelegrin#, Ana Hermínia Bello Soares§, Derek B. Tucker¤, Adrian Antonio Garda|
‡ Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Brazil§ Universidade de Brasília, Brazil| Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil¶ Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Brazil# Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal, Argentina¤ Brigham Young University, United States of America
Open Access
Abstract
We provide a list of amphibians, lizards, chelonians, and snakes collected during a 30-day expedition to the Serra da Capivara National Park, Piauí State, Brazil. Thirty-seven pitfall trap arrays composed of 4 buckets each, along with glue traps, funnel traps, and haphazard searches, were used to sample the herpetofaunal diversity. We recorded 17 species of lizards, 1 caecilian, 1 chelonian, 7 frogs, and 11 snakes. Rarefaction curves suggest that local biodiversity is still underestimated. An atypical drought during the period of study may have contributed to lower captures of certain groups, especially amphibians and snakes. The presence of water-dependent and forest-dependent species within local canyons (“Boqueirões”) suggests that these areas harbor faunas associated with relictual rainforest fragments and need to be better studied and managed accordingly.
Keywords
herptofauna; conservation; inventory